Follow your dream. Sergio Santos did and now he’s a relief pitcher for the Chicago White Sox.

The Hacienda Heights native returned Thursday to talk to students at Palm Elementary School.

“I knew when I went to school here that I wanted to be a professional baseball player,” Santos told the excited students. “Everyone should have a dream and goal. Trust me that you can do it, whether it’s a doctor or veterinarian. Whatever you want to be you can do it.”

The White Sox player grew up only four blocks from Palm School. He said his parents still live in the same house.

So Santos still has close connections with the area and was happy to talk to the Palm students when invited. He even hugged his second-grade teacher Pam Kato.

“She could be tough on us, but she was a great teacher,” Santos chuckled.

Principal Edna Moore pointed to a large picture of Santos taken from an old yearbook.

“That’s his picture as a Palm Panther. He even ran on the cross-country team,” Moore said.

But baseball has always been Santos’ passion. He said he began playing T-ball when he was only 4 years old. In August, Santos set a new Major League record with his 25th straight scoreless appearance in August.

“You won’t always succeed. I was close to retiring years ago, but I fought my way back,” he said. “I’m glad I did. Now I’m living my dream.”

“Never give up. It’s never easy, but if you don’t succeed the first time, don’t give up. Try again,” Santos warned.

The star pitcher added that there’s no substitute for hard work. He said the hard work will pay off.

“I work on my pitching every day just like you do your homework,” he added.

The staff and students were anxious to ask their hero some questions.

“You’re brought in as a relief pitcher at the end of a close game. How do you handle the enormous pressure?” Principal Moore asked.

“It’s not easy, but I ask myself if I’m prepared. I still get butterflies in my stomach. But I want to pitch really well, so I do all the work to get ready for a game,” Santos said.

Naturally, the children wanted to know how hard the 28-year-old throws a baseball.

“The fastest I’ve thrown is 100 miles per hour,” he noted. “I usually throw 96, 97, 98 miles per hour.”

Santos is known for his fastball and nasty slider, but he also throws a change up.

Another kid wanted to know if he had good grades in school.

“My parents wouldn’t let me play unless I had good grades,” Santos recalled. “I had a full scholarship to USC, but I was drafted out of high school.”

He was picked by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft in 2002. Santos worked his way up through the farm system to Triple-A Tucson, where he hit 21 doubles and 12 home runs in 2005.

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